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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Postcard from Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes, photographed by Gordon Parks (1941)

Dream Variations

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me—
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1994.